THE NEW YORK TIMES, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020 N AMany stories have been told over the
years about the inspiration for the
song “Lola” by the Kinks. The group’s
singer, Ray Davies, said it came from
an encounter at the Castille Club, a
Paris nightspot the group frequented.
‘Lola’: Still Inspiring at 50C
In Finnish, sumppi is slang for “let’s
have coffee,” but the word also
means “small fish.”
Building the Most Functional City ImaginableB
In his long career, the composer and
pianist Frederic Rzewski has adapted
resistance music from Germany,
Russia, Ireland, Portugal, Spain,
Korea and the United States.
The Music of MoreC
Results from a survey distributed this
fall show that participation in school
and community bands has held
steady since last year, according to
the National Federation of State High
School Associations.
From Pantyhose to Trash Bags, Innovations Keep
Music Programs AliveAThe N.F.L. played its first night game
in 1929, on a Wednesday, a matchup
between the Chicago Cardinals and
the Providence Steam Roller.
An N.F.L. Game on a Wednesday Isn’t as Weird
As It SeemsB- In Palestinian cooking, a saj is a
griddle with a convex surface that
cooks a crepe-thin flatbread, which is
known by many names, including saj
and markouk.
Palestinian Street Food, and Then SomeD
Pappy Van Winkle is the world’s
most sought-after bourbon, a cult
whiskey for which fans happily pay
hundreds of dollars a bottle, if they
can find it.
Terroir, Travel and TraumaD
Of Interest
NOTEWORTHY FACTS FROM TODAY’S PAPER
JAMES JARVIS“The risk of overdoing it is less than the risk of
underdoing it.”
JEROME H. POWELL,the Federal Reserve chair, telling the Senate Banking Committee that the pace of
economic improvement has moderated and calling for action to help blunt the impact of the pandemic.Quote of the Day
BIDEN URGES A ‘ROBUST’
STIMULUS AS RISKS MOUNT A
Presidential Transition Live Updates
The Times’s briefing on President-elect Joe Biden’s prepara-
tions and related congressional news included the announce-
ment of Mr. Biden’s economic team, as well as news of a
bipartisan proposal in the Senate for a $900 billion stopgap
stimulus package. This was Tuesday’s most read article.
Earthlings, It Seems, Not Aliens, Removed
The Utah Monolith
A photographer said that he was visiting the monolith on
Friday night when four men arrived to dismantle the sculp-
ture. The article was popular on Twitter, and a Times video on
the monolith was the most watched video Tuesday.
Thank You, Justice Gorsuch
In his Opinion column, Bret Stephens praised Justice Neil
Gorsuch for his remarks concurring with the Supreme Court’s
5-4 ruling striking down restrictions that limited attendance
at houses of worship located in pandemic hot spots. The arti-
cle drew 3,600 comments.
Goodbye, Blazers; Hello, ‘Coatigans.’
Women Adjust Attire to Work at Home.
As many professional women have found themselves in an
extended period of remote work, their notions of work wear
have transformed, shaking up businesses that have sought to
outfit them for the office.
The Conversation
FOUR OF THE MOST READ, SHARED AND DISCUSSED POSTS
FROM ACROSS NYTIMES.COM
SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGESKaren Weise, a technology correspondent for The Times,
reported last week that Amazon had hired more than 425,
employees in 10 months. In Monday’s On Tech newsletter,
Shira Ovide interviewed Ms. Weise about Amazon’s rapidly
expanding work force. Edited excerpts follow.Spotlight
ADDITIONAL REPORTAGE AND REPARTEE
FROM OUR JOURNALISTSTo sign up for the On Tech newsletter, go to nytimes.com/newsletters.Shira Ovide How does working at an Amazon
warehouse or package center compare with other jobs?Karen Weise It doesn’t compare to anything else.
Working at an e-commerce warehouse is more
physical than working in most retail stores, and you
don’t interact with customers. But it’s also not like
traditional workhouse work, which usually involves
moving very large items on pallets. Working at Amazon
or other e-commerce warehouses is about moving a
large number of small, individual items.Average pay at Amazon warehouses is higher than
a conventional retail job but lower than a traditional
warehouse job. It’s really a new kind of work. Instead
of you walking into a store, pulling a T-shirt off a rack
and taking it to a cashier and driving it home, people at
Amazon are effectively doing those steps.Ovide How does this growth play into the questioning
of Amazon’s power from politicians and regulators?Weise That’s not why Amazon is hiring so quickly,
but it now has employees in almost every state. The
work force is the most potent political message that
Amazon has, and the company knows it. It sends
workers to meet with their local members of Congress,
and the lawmakers are given a safety vest emblazoned
with the name of an Amazon warehouse in their district.Thanks to this pandemic, I am now the
proud (and not-so-proud) owner of the
following things: a boomerang, a hula
hoop, a water balloon pump, a hippity hop
jumping ball, a remote control helicopter, a
rope tree swing, a 50-pack of rocket bal-
loons, two fishing rods, assorted fishing
tackle and the toys from roughly 37 Kinder
Surprise eggs.
I am not a shopping addict; I am the
mom of a 6-year-old. And 6-year-olds get
bored fast.
“Before Covid-19, our days were usually
built around scheduled activity after
scheduled activity,” said Parker Huston, a
pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Chil-
dren’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “Now
that we can’t do those things, kids and
parents are struggling.”
Parents are often tasked with “curing”
their kids’ boredom. And this can lead to
self judgment, said John Eastwood, an
associate professor of clinical psychology
at York University in Toronto, who leads a
team of researchers at the Boredom Lab.
But boredom is neither good nor bad,
said James Danckert, a cognitive neurosci-
entist at the University of Waterloo in
Ontario, Canada, and author of the book,
with Dr. Eastwood, “Out of My Skull: The
Psychology of Boredom.”
“In-the-moment feelings of boredom are
uncomfortable,” he said. But it’s how you
— or your child — choose to act on those
feelings that can determine the outcome.
In their book, Dr. Danckert and Dr.
Eastwood described boredom as a signal,
much like hunger. When you’re hungry,you crave food. When you’re bored, you
crave an experience different from the one
you’re currently having.
The best boredom coping strategy
might involve simply reframing how you
view a boring task or situation, said Dr.
Danckert. Thinking about quarantining as
a Robinson Crusoe-style adventure, rather
than an annoyance that makes fun things
off limits, can help kids deal.
Try to build unstructured time into
every day with no devices, no screens and
no parental engagement.
“You might have to start off small, like
5-minute increments,” he said. “Then
reward or really praise them for successful
independent play.”
For older kids, it can be more helpful to
find things they really want to be engaged
with on a more consistent basis.
At any age, “the goal is to force kids to
use the resources they have to entertain
themselves and be stimulated and happy,”
Dr. Huston said. Jill WaldbieserFor more parenting advice,
go to nytimes.com/parenting.Here to Help
ESCAPE THE BOREDOM TRAPJOOHEE YOONThe Mini Crossword
BY JOEL FAGLIANO
12/2/2020 EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ
1234567ACROSS
1 Woman in Progressive ads(^4) School zone sign
5 Corner ___ (phrase suggested by
the circled letters)
6 Makes less difficult
7 They’re dropped in the Boston
accent
DOWN
(^1) 2010s dance with swinging arms
and hips
2 Passed-down history
3 Has to pay
4 See 5-Down
5 With 4-Down, five-pointed ocean
creature
SOLUTION TO
PREVIOUS PUZZLE TWO S
SHORT
CONDO
ASKEW
REAR
It’sthattime(finally!)
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